European airports and airlines organisations issued on Monday the latest warning about the next implementation phase of the EU’s new biometric border system, “as the transition phase comes to an end right in the travel peak of the Easter holidays.”
The Airports Council International (ACI Europe) and Airlines for Europe (A4E) have reported that the continued roll out of the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES), in which passengers give finger prints and facial scans, is causing more and more delays around Europe.
The two organisation said in a joint statement on Monday that since March 10th, when the registration of 50 per cent of third country nationals travelling to the Schengen area became mandatory, there has been “a continued deterioration in waiting times at border crossing points”.
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“Waiting times are now regularly reaching up to two hours at peak traffic times, with some airports reporting even longer queues,” the groups added.
This happens “despite the continued use by border control authorities of both the partial and full suspension of EES processes … during travel peaks,” the statement read.
A spokesperson for ACI Europe said that, based on a survey conducted by the group, “several airports across Europe have had to partially or fully suspend the EES, including those in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Switzerland, Belgium and Germany”.
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“Of those, Belgium, Greece, Portugal and Italy have seen some of the longest waiting times”, with airports of all sizes affected, including Brussels International in Belgium, Torino and Milan Malpensa in Italy, and Frankfurt Airport in Germany, “to name just a few.”
She added that the list was “not exhaustive”.
“It is clear that the issue is affecting a wide range of airports across Europe and has even led to passengers missing flights,” she said.
The EES has being introduced gradually since October 12th 2025 across the 29 countries of the Schengen area (25 EU member states plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein) with the deadline for full implementation April 9th 2026.
“With the next critical milestones approaching – namely the requirement to register 100 per cent of third country nationals as of March 31st, followed by the end of the transition period on April 9th – airports and airlines warn that the situation risks deteriorating further,” the groups said in a statement.
“From that point onwards, Member States will no longer be able to fully suspend the system in response to operational pressures, removing a key safeguard currently used to manage peak demand,” the statement said.
The two organisations point at persisting problems regarding border control staff shortages, technical and maintenance issues with self-service kiosks, limited use of automated border control gates, reliability of the central IT system, and lack of availability of the EES pre‑registration app, currently deployed only in Sweden and Portugal.
EES flexibility
The two organisations called on the European Commission and EU Member States to “extend the possibility to fully or partially suspend… during the entirety of the 2026 summer season” and, if necessary, during winter too.
A European Commission spokesperson said in January that member States will be able to partially suspend the EES over the summer. “After the completion of the roll-out, Member States will still be able to partially suspend EES operations where necessary during a period of an additional 90 days with a possible 60-day extension to cover the summer peak,” Markus Lammert said.
“This will give Member States the necessary tools to manage potential extended queues,” he added
Biometric registration
The EES, which collects digital personal records of visitors from third countries and replaces the manual stamping of passports, requires passengers to register fingerprints and facial images the first time they cross an external Schengen border. The data is recorded in a Europe-wide database tracking each time travellers enter and exit the Schengen area, to avoid people staying beyond the limits of the 90/180 day rule.
Last week the British government urged UK tourists travelling to the Schengen area around Easter to allow additional time and follow travel operators’ guidance. “As with all journeys, travellers should follow their travel operator’s guidance and allow time to complete these checks, particularly if they have connections or onward transport booked,” the government note said.
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